tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/wallaby-899/articlesWallaby – The Conversation2021-09-02T05:21:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1643262021-09-02T05:21:07Z2021-09-02T05:21:07ZThis shy little wallaby has a white moustache and shares its name with a pub meal. Yet it’s been overlooked for decades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419015/original/file-20210902-27-15epq4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C31%2C2955%2C1967&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/am-i-not-pretty-enough-106740">Am I not pretty enough?</a></strong> This article is part of The Conversation’s new series introducing you to Australia’s unloved animals that need our help.</em></p>
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<p>For many people, the term “wallaby” may describe a single species, or rather just a small kangaroo. So you may be surprised to learn there are actually more than 50 known species of wallaby in Australia. </p>
<p>The parma wallaby (<em>Macropus parma</em>) is one of Australia’s smallest. It’s no larger than a house cat, with a body length up to 55 centimetres and a tail about the same length again. It has thick, brownish-grey fur, and a defining white moustache. </p>
<p>But this is about as much as can be said for its appearance, as even its moustache is common to many other wallaby species, such as the yellow-footed rock-wallaby. </p>
<p>Here, we aim to defend the voiceless. The parma wallaby’s failure to charm with either its looks or charisma has condemned it to obscurity by the general public and wildlife researchers alike, potentially dooming it to extinction. </p>
<h2>The parma’s resurrection</h2>
<p>So overlooked is the parma wallaby that for more than 30 years, it was presumed extinct until 1966, when <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/parma-wallaby-and-its-future/99E1450DC8DD79F04A30785C54F3ACA6">a feral population was discovered on Kawau Island</a>, New Zealand. </p>
<p>The species was introduced there a century earlier by former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Sir George Grey, who’s zoological interests led to Kawau becoming home to a menagerie of exotic animals.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419004/original/file-20210902-15-7wwnp9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A parma wallaby with a joey" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419004/original/file-20210902-15-7wwnp9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419004/original/file-20210902-15-7wwnp9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419004/original/file-20210902-15-7wwnp9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419004/original/file-20210902-15-7wwnp9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419004/original/file-20210902-15-7wwnp9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419004/original/file-20210902-15-7wwnp9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419004/original/file-20210902-15-7wwnp9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Parma wallaby was presumed extinct for 30 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Benjamint444/Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>This sudden rediscovery resurrected the parma from the pages of natural history books, prompting a reintroduction program to re-establish the Kawau Island population in Australia. This occurred on two occasions, once on Pulbah Island in Lake Macquarie, and near Robertson, NSW. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/000632079291047V">But both attempts were considered abject failures</a>, with all reintroduced, marked individuals found dead, mostly due to predation by dogs and foxes.</p>
<p>Despite this unsuccessful program, the sudden spotlight on the species led to its rediscovery on the mainland in 1972 near Gosford, NSW. Soon after, <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/wr9770109">a state-wide parma survey</a> was conducted. </p>
<h2>An elusive species</h2>
<p>But since then, its ecology has largely gone unstudied and, once again, the parma has faded to obscurity. </p>
<p>The IUCN Red List — the pre-eminent assessment of the conservation status of the world’s biodiversity — has relied on a guestimate of population size, placing it at <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/12627/21953067#population">under 10,000 individuals</a>.</p>
<p>Despite little monitoring the species is still considered only “near threatened” <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/12627/21953067">on the Red List</a>, but events like the Black Summer bushfires may have significantly reduced its population. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-broad-toothed-rat-a-chubby-cheeked-and-inquisitive-australian-rodent-that-needs-our-help-160929">Meet the broad-toothed rat: a chubby-cheeked and inquisitive Australian rodent that needs our help</a>
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<p>As a result of its cryptic nature and very recent rediscovery in the wild, there is scarce known about the ecology of the parma wallaby. We don’t even know the exact origins of its name. </p>
<p>We do know its preferred habitat is moist eucalyptus forest with thick, shrubby understory. It shelters there during the day, often with nearby grassy areas as, at night, they typically feed on grass and herbs. They’re also found in rainforest margins and drier eucalypt forest, but to a lesser extent. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419008/original/file-20210902-13-xom68x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419008/original/file-20210902-13-xom68x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419008/original/file-20210902-13-xom68x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419008/original/file-20210902-13-xom68x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419008/original/file-20210902-13-xom68x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419008/original/file-20210902-13-xom68x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419008/original/file-20210902-13-xom68x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419008/original/file-20210902-13-xom68x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Parma wallabies weigh just 5kg, making them vulnerable to dogs, foxes and cats.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lachlan McRae</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>The parma wallaby is under threat</h2>
<p>We also know the parma wallaby’s <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10501">range is in decline</a> and has been since European colonisation. </p>
<p>The species once occurred from southern Queensland to the Bega area in the southeast of NSW. Now, its range is confined to the coast and ranges of central and northern NSW. It’s patchily distributed throughout cool, high-altitude forests along the Great Dividing Range.</p>
<p>It weighs around 5 kilograms, placing it in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0006320789900098">critical weight range</a> category. This means it’s vulnerable to feral predators, such as dogs, cats and foxes.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-cat-one-year-110-native-animals-lock-up-your-pet-its-a-killing-machine-138412">One cat, one year, 110 native animals: lock up your pet, it's a killing machine</a>
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<p>Another major threat facing parma wallabies is habitat destruction from catastrophic bushfires. </p>
<p>The 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires killed, injured or displaced an estimated three billion animals. Over half (55%) of the parma’s key habitat was severely burned. Coupled with the loss of those that would have perished in the flames, the species is now considered <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10501">vulnerable in NSW</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419013/original/file-20210902-27-ahboni.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419013/original/file-20210902-27-ahboni.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419013/original/file-20210902-27-ahboni.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419013/original/file-20210902-27-ahboni.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419013/original/file-20210902-27-ahboni.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419013/original/file-20210902-27-ahboni.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419013/original/file-20210902-27-ahboni.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419013/original/file-20210902-27-ahboni.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Over half of the Parma wallaby’s habitat was burned in the Black Summer bushfires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elliott Dooley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>Saving the parma</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://naturaldisaster.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/royal-commission-national-natural-disaster-arrangements-report">recent bushfire Royal Commission</a> raised the issue that Australia doesn’t have a comprehensive, central source of information about its native flora and fauna. This is especially urgent, given seemingly “drab” species like the parma wallaby that have gone unnoticed for too long.</p>
<p>All species rely on interactions with a plethora of other species to survive in a complex system from which humans are not exempt. But with so little known about these interconnected relationships, we don’t know what the broader impacts to the ecosystem would be if one species disappeared.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/3-billion-animals-were-in-the-bushfires-path-heres-what-the-royal-commission-said-and-shouldve-said-about-them-149429">3 billion animals were in the bushfires' path. Here's what the royal commission said (and should've said) about them</a>
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<p>Imagine a Jenga tower where each species is a wooden block. You can never really be certain which block you remove will cause the tower to collapse. <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-re-counted-australias-extinct-species-and-the-result-is-devastating-127611">Australia has an appalling extinction record</a>, and we can’t afford to be playing Jenga with our biodiversity — whether it’s a boring bird, an ugly fish or just another wallaby.</p>
<p>Our ongoing research aims to help fill this conservation gap. We focus on a range of conservation actions the parma wallaby needs immediately. </p>
<p>These include carrying out field surveys to gauge the extent of their survival, and identifying the places that need refuge vegetation recovery. Refuge patches of bushland are important because they provide parma wallabies escape routes and places to hide, helping protect them from predation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419000/original/file-20210902-12-1pndmfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C1%2C952%2C717&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Parma wallaby sitting on a rock" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419000/original/file-20210902-12-1pndmfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C1%2C952%2C717&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419000/original/file-20210902-12-1pndmfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419000/original/file-20210902-12-1pndmfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419000/original/file-20210902-12-1pndmfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419000/original/file-20210902-12-1pndmfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419000/original/file-20210902-12-1pndmfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419000/original/file-20210902-12-1pndmfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">If you want to help save parmas, keep your cat inside.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lachlan McRae</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>But you can help, too</h2>
<p>Given the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-staggering-1-8-million-hectares-burned-in-high-severity-fires-during-australias-black-summer-157883">breadth of catastrophic fires is expected to increase</a> under climate change, we can all help threatened species like the parma wallaby bounce back.</p>
<p>Come bushfire season, you can reduce the fire risk around your home by clearing anything that could fuel a fire — long grass, weeds and leaves on the ground and in guttering.</p>
<p>The parma wallaby, like many other little mammals, is vulnerable to introduced predators, <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-cat-one-year-110-native-animals-lock-up-your-pet-its-a-killing-machine-138412">especially cats</a>. By keeping your cat indoors, you could be sparing the lives of <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR19174">186 animals per year</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334618/original/file-20200513-156641-17q6r13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334618/original/file-20200513-156641-17q6r13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334618/original/file-20200513-156641-17q6r13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334618/original/file-20200513-156641-17q6r13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334618/original/file-20200513-156641-17q6r13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334618/original/file-20200513-156641-17q6r13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334618/original/file-20200513-156641-17q6r13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>You can urge your politicians to value Australia’s unique and precious biodiversity. They are the ones who will ultimately determine whether our threatened species survive or go extinct.</p>
<p>Finally, you can <a href="https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/conservation-programs/threatened-species-volunteering-program">volunteer</a>. There are many volunteer-based conservation projects all over Australia, run by government agencies, charities, and universities. </p>
<p>With the ongoing pandemic travel restrictions, there’s no better time to experience the rich biodiversity this country has to offer, and discover less celebrated, but still fascinating, species like the parma wallaby.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164326/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elliott Dooley receives funding from an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Hayward receives funding from the Australian Research Council via Linkage Grant LP200100261.
. </span></em></p>Meet the parma wallaby: for decades it was presumed extinct, until it turned up in New Zealand. Today, its failure to charm Australians may have doomed it – for good.Elliott Dooley, PhD Candidate, University of NewcastleMatt Hayward, Professor of Conservation Science, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/932032018-03-12T19:06:12Z2018-03-12T19:06:12ZYes, kangaroos are endangered – but not the species you think<p>Do you know what kind of animal the mala, nabarlek, or boodie is? What about the monjon, northern bettong, or Gilbert’s potoroo? </p>
<p>If you answered that they are different species of kangaroo – the collective term for more than 50 species of Australian hopping marsupials – you’d be right. But you’d be in the minority. </p>
<p>Include nearby New Guinea, and the number of kangaroo species jumps to <a href="https://cloud.une.edu.au/index.php/s/QxtzrSSG2FcwKQC">more than 70</a>. Kangaroos are so diverse that they have been dubbed <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=X1aDI8F9ULYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false">Australia’s most successful evolutionary product</a>.</p>
<p>But sadly, not everyone is aware of this great diversity, so most kangaroo species remain obscure and unknown.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bans-on-kangaroo-products-are-a-case-of-emotion-trumping-science-47924">Bans on kangaroo products are a case of emotion trumping science</a>
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<p>This is brought into sharp relief by a new movie that premieres nationally this week called <a href="http://kangaroothemovie.com">Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story</a>. The filmmakers set out to expose the kangaroo industry, painting a picture of gruesome animal cruelty, an industry cloaked in secrecy, and the wholesale slaughter of an Australian icon.</p>
<p>The film, which includes brutal footage, also includes the claim that Australia’s kangaroos may be heading down the path of extinction.</p>
<p>The film has already screened in the United States and Europe to sold-out premieres, opening first in those places because they are important markets for kangaroo products. </p>
<p>But foreign audiences also probably know less about Australia’s major kangaroo species or the complexities of the kangaroo industry, and may perhaps be more easily swayed towards the filmmakers’ point of view.</p>
<p>Many US reviews have been positive about the film, although <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/kangaroo-a-love-hate-story-1074383">one review</a> described it as “frustratingly one-sided”.</p>
<p>Most Australians, whatever their view on the kangaroo industry, would surely agree that if kangaroos are to be harvested, it should be done with minimal suffering. But are Australia’s kangaroos really at risk of extinction?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209853/original/file-20180312-30954-1cr9qdp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209853/original/file-20180312-30954-1cr9qdp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209853/original/file-20180312-30954-1cr9qdp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209853/original/file-20180312-30954-1cr9qdp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209853/original/file-20180312-30954-1cr9qdp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209853/original/file-20180312-30954-1cr9qdp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209853/original/file-20180312-30954-1cr9qdp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The iconic red kangaroo. Large kangaroos are typically widespread and secure, unlike many of their smaller cousins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Karl Vernes</span></span>
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<p>On mainland Australia, <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/wildlife-trade/natives/wild-harvest">four species are sustainably harvested</a>, largely for their meat or fur: the eastern grey, western grey, common wallaroo, and Australia’s most famous icon (and largest marsupial), the red kangaroo. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/d3f58a89-4fdf-43ca-8763-bbfd6048c303/files/kangaroo-statistics-2018.pdf">best scientific survey data</a>, based on millions of square kilometres surveyed by aircraft each year, puts the combined number of these four kangaroo species currently at around 46 million animals.</p>
<p>This is a conservative estimate, because only the rangelands where kangaroos are subject to government-sanctioned harvest are surveyed. There is almost as much kangaroo habitat again that is not surveyed. </p>
<p>Of the estimated population, a quota of roughly 15% is set for the following year, of which <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/d3f58a89-4fdf-43ca-8763-bbfd6048c303/files/kangaroo-statistics-2018.pdf">barely a quarter is usually filled</a>. Quotas are set and enforced by state governments, with the aim of sustaining population numbers.</p>
<p>For example, of 47 million animals estimated in 2016, a quota of 7.8 million animals was set for the following year, but only 1.4 million of these animals (3.1% of the estimated population) were harvested.</p>
<p>The wildlife management community is pretty much <a href="https://www.awms.org.au/the-commercial-harvesting-of-macropods">unanimous</a> that the four harvested species are widespread and abundant, and at no risk of extinction.</p>
<h2>Are non-harvested species at risk?</h2>
<p>But what of the other forgotten 95% of kangaroo species? The conservation prognosis for these – especially the smaller ones under about 5.5kg in weight – is far less rosy. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.australianwildlife.org/wildlife/nabarlek.aspx">nabarlek</a> – a small <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=87607">endangered</a> rock wallaby from Australia’s northwest – has become so rare that its mainland population in the Kimberley seems to have disappeared. It is now only found on a few islands off the coast. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.australianwildlife.org/wildlife/burrowing-bettong.aspx">boodie</a> – a small burrowing species of bettong – was one of Australia’s most widespread mammals at the time of European arrival, but is extinct on the mainland and now found on just a few islands.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-gilberts-potoroo-11640">Gilbert’s potoroo</a> holds the title of Australia’s most endangered mammal, clinging precariously to existence in the heathlands around Albany on Western Australia’s south coast. One intense wildfire could wipe out the species in the wild. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, if the alarming increasing impact of cats on our northern Australian wildlife continues, <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/WR/justaccepted/WR16103">recent modelling</a> suggests that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_bettong">northern bettong</a> – a diminutive kangaroo that weighs barely a kilogram – will disappear.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-gilberts-potoroo-11640">Australian endangered species: Gilbert's Potoroo</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The list goes on: mala, bridled nail-tail wallaby, parma wallaby, woylie, banded hare-wallaby, long-footed potoroo, Proserpine rock-wallaby – all of these and more could slip to extinction right under our noses. </p>
<p>The culprits are the usual suspects: cats, foxes, land-use change – and our collective apathy and ignorance. Australia holds the title for the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-19/fact-check-does-australia-have-one-of-the-highest-extinction/6691026">worst record of mammal extinctions in modern times</a>, and kangaroos, unfortunately, contribute many species to that list.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209870/original/file-20180312-30961-orgz41.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209870/original/file-20180312-30961-orgz41.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209870/original/file-20180312-30961-orgz41.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209870/original/file-20180312-30961-orgz41.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209870/original/file-20180312-30961-orgz41.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209870/original/file-20180312-30961-orgz41.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209870/original/file-20180312-30961-orgz41.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209870/original/file-20180312-30961-orgz41.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Population modelling paints a grim picture for the northern bettong.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Karl Vernes</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Oaeaqndd7g">theatrical trailer</a> for Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story’ features a voiceover from a concerned kangaroo activist, who says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If Australians really knew what happens out there in the dark, they would be horrified.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indeed they might. But it’s not just the treatment of the abundant big four kangaroos that are harvested (yet secure) that should attract attention. </p>
<p>If we also look at the other 95% of kangaroo species that need our urgent attention, we might just be able to do something about their dwindling numbers - and the real kangaroo extinction crisis - before it’s too late.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93203/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karl Vernes has received research funding from a range of funding bodies, including the Australian Research Council, the Hermon Slade Foundation, the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, and the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre. He is not affiliated with the Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia, nor has he ever received funding from them.</span></em></p>A new documentary makes some controversial claims about the health of kangaroo populations. But the real threat is not to Australia’s iconic kangaroos – it’s to dozens of other, obscure species.Karl Vernes, Associate Professor, School of Environmental & Rural Science, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/824172017-09-04T13:50:08Z2017-09-04T13:50:08ZHow animal genes go into battle to dominate their offspring<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183840/original/file-20170829-6710-pwups5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">She'll be more like me than you.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The burdens of becoming parents are often shared unequally between male and female animals. This is particularly true of species that give birth to live young, where male duties such as defending the breeding territory and building dens or nests rarely compare with the ordeals of pregnancy and labour. </p>
<p>You might have thought that animals just “accept” this imbalance and get on with it. But actually, they compete over how much each parent contributes. This isn’t like the competition to win a mate, with locking horns or displays of plumage. Instead this remarkable battle takes place at the level of the genes. </p>
<p>It now appears it may have evolved very early in animal evolution, perhaps among the first child-bearing animals. What is more, it may even help to explain why animals diversified into different lineages. </p>
<h2>Creatures great and small</h2>
<p>One arena in which this battle plays out is over the size of offspring. In principle it’s in both a mother’s and father’s interests to produce bigger newborns, since they are more likely to prevail in the struggle for food and survival. </p>
<p>Yet live-bearing females are more likely to die giving birth to larger offspring or become unable to reproduce again. Their mates needn’t care – unless they are likely to sire more broods together, as with humans and certain gibbons, wolves and mice. Otherwise, the males’ only concern is that their mate invests as much as possible in the offspring they produce together. </p>
<p>This common conflict of interests <a href="https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/14/3/301/255814/Should-young-ever-be-better-off-with-one-parent">manifests</a> itself in <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3677005?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">various ways</a> in nature. Males often desert pregnant females – from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2535784/">birds</a> to humans, for example – thereby leaving them with the burden of bringing up the young. More rarely, in some normally biparental species females desert males. We see this in some <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms9449">beetles</a>, for example.</p>
<p>The genetic battle mentioned previously is another manifestation of this conflict. The males of many species <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1997210">can manipulate</a> the genes that they pass on to their offspring so that they induce extra growth at the expense of the mother. As with desertion, this effectively hands the female a greater share of the child-bearing burden than is in her interests. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183842/original/file-20170829-6691-kt09h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183842/original/file-20170829-6691-kt09h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183842/original/file-20170829-6691-kt09h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183842/original/file-20170829-6691-kt09h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183842/original/file-20170829-6691-kt09h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183842/original/file-20170829-6691-kt09h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183842/original/file-20170829-6691-kt09h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183842/original/file-20170829-6691-kt09h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wallaby tonight?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixnio.com/fauna-animals/rats-mice-and-voles-pictures/deer-mouse-animal-peromyscus-maniculatus">Susan Freeman</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It works as follows. When an embryo grows inside its mother, it consumes resources from her, signalling its metabolic needs along the way. These signals are influenced by certain hormones which either come from the growth genes of the mother or father. The males manipulate the females to deliver more resources by increasing the extent to which these hormones are produced through a chemical modification of their growth genes during sperm formation. </p>
<p>Females have evolved mechanisms to resist this. They can, for instance, pass on to their offspring what is known as a “silenced copy” of their own growth gene. This can counterbalance the male genes’ influence by making the embryo grow less than it otherwise would. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183843/original/file-20170829-7186-ut0sza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183843/original/file-20170829-7186-ut0sza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183843/original/file-20170829-7186-ut0sza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183843/original/file-20170829-7186-ut0sza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183843/original/file-20170829-7186-ut0sza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183843/original/file-20170829-7186-ut0sza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183843/original/file-20170829-7186-ut0sza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183843/original/file-20170829-7186-ut0sza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cells dividing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/human-animal-cells-on-colorful-background-329634500?src=PmIaXm5fWSUa9ID3Y_GSRw-1-51">Kateryna Kon</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This battle is far less prevalent in truly monogamous species, including humans. This goes back to the fact that it becomes less genetically necessary where the two parents have a common interest in the female producing more offspring in future. </p>
<h2>Mouse control</h2>
<p>British microbiologist David Haig <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12728278">first proposed</a> in 2003 that this battle was more likely in organisms where one sex disproportionately contributes to the offspring, such as live-bearing species, particularly polygamous ones. This was used to explain the puzzling size of the offspring of crosses between oldfield mice and deer mice. </p>
<p>Separately, these species produce similar sized offspring. Yet crosses between male deer mice and female oldfield mice produce offspring that are larger, while the offspring from female deer mice and oldfield males are smaller. <a href="http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Peromyscus_polionotus/">Oldfield mice</a> are monogamous while <a href="http://www.esf.edu/aec/adks/mammals/deer_mouse.htm">deer mice</a> are polyandrous, meaning one female mates with several males. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183841/original/file-20170829-6675-tjluy0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183841/original/file-20170829-6675-tjluy0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183841/original/file-20170829-6675-tjluy0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183841/original/file-20170829-6675-tjluy0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183841/original/file-20170829-6675-tjluy0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183841/original/file-20170829-6675-tjluy0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183841/original/file-20170829-6675-tjluy0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183841/original/file-20170829-6675-tjluy0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The deer mouse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixnio.com/fauna-animals/rats-mice-and-voles-pictures/deer-mouse-animal-peromyscus-maniculatus">Pixnio</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mimicking nature by artificially manipulating a growth gene called igf2, researchers <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12728278">showed that</a> these smaller and larger offspring were due to genetics. In further support of the theory, placental mammals and marsupials including kangaroos and opossums have since been <a href="https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2164-9-205">found to</a> have signs of female resistance to such male manipulation. </p>
<p>How early did this mechanism evolve? Researchers have previously <a href="https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2164-9-205">suggested</a> it arose in live-born mammals, and would therefore be absent in egg-laying mammals – such as the platypus – and other vertibrates. </p>
<p>But that raises questions about all the reptiles, amphibians and fish which produce live young, since the same genetic manipulation would equally be in their males’ interests. To see if it was present, <a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/asymmetric-paternal-effect-on-offspring-size-linked-to-parentoforigin-expression-of-an-insulinlike-growth-factor(f577a130-e1eb-49c6-aafe-0f65fe7e8017).html">we looked at</a> a Mexican fish called the amarillo or dark-edged splitfin (see lead image). </p>
<p>Along with co-researchers <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yolitzi_Saldivar">Yolitzi Saldívar</a> and <a href="http://www.langebio.cinvestav.mx/?pag=365">Jean Philippe Vielle Calzada</a>, we crossed males and females from two distant populations of these fish, since they would not have evolved mechanisms which cancel one another out in the way that a single population is likely to have. Sure enough, the size of the embryos was influenced by the specific combination of father and mother. We found signs of male manipulation and probable resistance from the females. </p>
<p>Though based on a small sample size, this suggests that these mechanisms evolved much earlier than previously believed: fish split from other vertebrates some 200m years before live-bearing mammals appeared, dating back about 370m years in total. Whether it comes from a single evolution or from several in different lineages, we cannot yet tell. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184393/original/file-20170901-27276-5i8lvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184393/original/file-20170901-27276-5i8lvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184393/original/file-20170901-27276-5i8lvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184393/original/file-20170901-27276-5i8lvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184393/original/file-20170901-27276-5i8lvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184393/original/file-20170901-27276-5i8lvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184393/original/file-20170901-27276-5i8lvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184393/original/file-20170901-27276-5i8lvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Animal magic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/evolution-biology-scheme-animals-isolated-on-293178890?src=TWxd03vTyW1iwPyOGI7ZqQ-1-39">Ekaterina</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One consequence of these genetic battles is the effect on reproductive compatibility within a species. The genetic mutations aimed at manipulating offspring that take place among males and females within a certain group of a species are like a sort of arms race. The genes continually adapt and counter-adapt to one another to try and further their reproductive interests. </p>
<p>If they then mate with an animal from a different group of the same species, their genetic mutations can have made them sufficiently unmatched over time that they are unable to reproduce – thus they are now two species. If this started happening much earlier in evolution than was previously thought, it is likely to have influenced how different groups of live-born animals diverged, including lizards, sharks and mammals. From little acorns, these are the kinds of big oak trees that can grow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82417/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Parents’ DNA try to manipulate one another in a bid to shape junior in their mould.Constantino de Jesús Macías García, Director of the Ecology Institute, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)MIchael Ritchie, Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Speciation, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/128672013-03-19T00:04:12Z2013-03-19T00:04:12ZWomb with a view: ultrasound escapades of fetal wallabies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21388/original/r9pbfn3y-1363648307.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ultrasound footage of wallabies in the uterus could help threatened marsupials reproduce.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arthur Chapman</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The private lives of marsupials are difficult to study. Many of them are nocturnal, very rare or overly sensitive to being put under intensive surveillance in captivity. Until now we’ve had to be satisfied with protecting the habitat of Australia’s iconic mammals and monitoring them at a distance.</p>
<p>But last Friday, scientists from Australia and abroad published high-resolution ultrasound images of marsupial pregnancy. For the first time, we could throw a virtual spotlight on one of nature’s most secretive events.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An ultrasound image of a day 26 wallaby fetus before birth and then being delivered (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kathleen Roellig</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Published in Nature’s new open access journal, <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep">Scientific Reports</a>, the study provides the first real-time footage of wallaby development in the womb. We have pictures showing its path from a tiny ball of cells to a highly active fetus that practices its climb to the pouch from day 23 of the 26 day pregnancy. </p>
<p>The ultrasound videos, <a href="http://http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130315/srep01458/full/srep01458.html">which are also available online</a>, show the tiny fetus repeatedly thrusting and grasping its left and right forelimbs in a coordinated effort to prepare for its unaided journey from the birth canal to the pouch.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cig30jSw0ZY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A wallaby practicing its climb.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In terms of relative developmental stage, this new footage may represent the earliest behaviour observed in any mammal. It highlights the remarkable adaptations of marsupials to navigate their way safely to their mother’s teat at such an early stage of maturation.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The newborn tammar climbs unaided to the pouch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Geoff Shaw</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>The study has documented several features of wallaby pregnancy that may be shared by all marsupials. These include a highly regimented developmental program, and movements of the endometrium that roll the embryo within the uterus. This latter finding is completely novel: Eutherian mammals, such as humans, don’t have uterine contractions during pregnancy as they would disturb fetal attachment. But for wallabies, these movements maximise growth of the early embryo before its short period of placental attachment.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A female tammar wallaby is given a routine ultrasound exam through the pouch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kathleen Roellig</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Most importantly, ultrasound has now reached a level of sensitivity where it can be used in assisted reproduction and monitoring of threatened marsupials. With sufficient expertise, captive females could be scanned once to isolate pregnant animals. There would be no need for repeated recapture, as the birth date could be predicted from the embryo or fetus size. </p>
<p>In wallabies that aren’t pregnant, ultrasound could be used to check the ovaries for the presence of a “corpus luteum”: this forms after the successful release of eggs from the ovary. This could help identify reproductively active females within populations of unknown age or condition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/12867/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brandon Menzies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The private lives of marsupials are difficult to study. Many of them are nocturnal, very rare or overly sensitive to being put under intensive surveillance in captivity. Until now we’ve had to be satisfied…Brandon Menzies, Centenary Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.